C. Wesley Daniel | From Ts to Gs

C. Wesley Daniel started their first tech project at the ripe age of 14, turning a website for their family’s t-shirt business into a brand marketing agency. They also worked as the Chief of Staff at the Georgia State Capitol before shifting gears and creating Home – a software solution for managing your life. Daniel is only planning on staying in Atlanta temporarily, let’s change their mind and keep their talent here as long as possible!

[Ed. Note: This story and main image were edited Feb 1, 2020, to honor Daniel’s request to have their identity defined as non-binary.]

What’s your current role?
CEO at C. Wesley & Co.

What startup/tech projects have you worked on?
My first tech project was designing a website for my family’s t-shirt printing shop at 14, after which I founded a brand marketing agency that developed integrated digital strategies for small and medium businesses. My firm worked on numerous projects from community festivals to political campaigns, which led me into a Chief of Staff position at the Georgia State Capitol. There I lead several legislative efforts, including coordinating marketing efforts for education reform laws and drafting a bill that would support $2.5B in new economic development for Georgia.

In 2014, I moved to Los Angeles to lead data operations for a large scale political campaign where I organized and manipulated large sets of data and built targeting strategies. I am now temporarily back in Atlanta building C. Wesley & Co., which is developing products focused on personalization and connectivity. Our flagship product, Home, is a personal OS that manages your life. Home brings all of your information to one place, proactively searching for information you need and turns notifications into smart interactions.

What tech/tools are essential to you?
I love Adobe Create Suite. Proto.io is really great for rapid prototyping of new ideas. My new favorite tool is Sunrise Calendar as it is wonderful for scheduling meetings especially across time zones. Asana is great for keeping my team on track and for managing a variety of projects. As the team is grows, I tend to use Slack more. There are other basic tools like Google Apps which I use heavily, and of course, as I start product testing Home that is going to become my go to for everything.

How do you stay informed and on top of emerging trends?
Crazy enough, I don’t use Facebook and Twitter primarily for connecting with people, but as my news aggregator. I follow a number of venture capitalists who are constantly discussing trends and I am always reading new stories on Medium. If I can, I will attend meetups, events, conferences and I’m always watching talks on Youtube from Stanford GSB, TED, etc. I also love going behind the scenes of other companies as there are some really cool events like New Co., which offers a sneak peak into how really successful companies operate.

What are your best technical or creative skills?
I pride myself on designing really great user experiences. For me this goes beyond the product, and into the full experience users have with the brand (which also can include physical activations). I’m also really keen on designing internal systems for how a company operates, as this can spell the success or failure of a product.

What’s next on your list to learn?
I’m now learning a great deal about raising institutional capital. Making friends with other CEO’s who have been through this process can be a great asset. Aside from this, I am excited about learning the process of scaling and hardware development.

Why the interest in startups and the technology field?
Growing up I always knew I was going to start a company that produced impactful products and services, which came from working at my family’s startup. I’ve always been interested in processes whether that’s manufacturing or marketing. It was me taking a very old computer and turning it into a cash register for my family’s t-shirt shop that really sparked my interest in the field. Technology is a way to not only make processes more efficient, but to have the power to unlock new potential, which it did for my family’s shop and so many of my clients. With my company, I’m now focused on building products and services that can help unlock opportunities on a larger scale. You can learn more at www.cwesley.co.

Follow C. Wesley Daniel:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cwesleydaniel
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cwesssley